Memorial Day weekend is typically one of the busiest weekends of the year for Utah’s national parks. This year, the parks are remaining full days past the weekend, which hasn’t been a typical trend in the past.According to Deseret News, since May 20 — with the exception of only one day — Arches National Park has had to temporarily close the park until it had additional capacity for new visitors. Arches tweeted Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, warning guests they may need to find an alternative attraction or visit at later times due to the park being completely full.
The situation has been very similar for Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. Jim Ireland, Bryce Canyon’s Superintendent, says he believes the massive crowds are because “people are anxious to get outside, anxious to get away from home after being in quarantine for so long, and they just want to be out in the parks.”